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For a year and a half, I worked at Isett Heritage Museum in Huntingdon, PA. In many ways, it was an ideal job for this genealogy loving history buff! I loved being surrounded by the local history items and daily reminders of days gone by.

One of my favorite pieces in the collection was an unusual pillow, hand-crafted and hand-stitched in 1905 by the students at the Marklesburg Normal School. The pillow had been donated to the museum by Elaine Fisher in memory of her mother, Grace Irene (Morningstar) Fisher (1927-2011). Irene was the daughter of Howard Dewey Morningstar (1898-1957) and Sarah Grace Stone (1903-1973).

In 1905, during the summer session, 52 teachers in training created a very special keepsake of their time at the Marklesburg Normal School in Penn Township, Huntingdon County, PA. During the school year, the Marklesburg School housed grades one through eight, and was opened to young adults who wanted to further their eduction over the summer months. The Normal School was affiliated with Juniata College.

Each soon-to-be-educator signed the pillow in stitches, and some included their hometown too. The signatures on the pillow include:

Xopher Beck

Mayne M. Hoover

Ada Householder

J. H. McCall

Lorane A. Mierley

G. Homer Pheasant

Clyde Shultz

Raymond D. Baker

Harry Moore

Nelson Keith, Aitch

Maye Frank, James Creek

Florence B. Lincoln, McConnellstown

Blanche Boyer

Jno. H. Hess

Ella M. Lininger, Grafton

Minnie S. Marshall, Greenwood Furnace

Ethel Grace Isett, James Creek

Charles Johnson

Maude Vaughn, Salter

Blanche Speck, Huntingdon

Ira A. Taylor, Todd

Homer Miller

Maude Hetrick

Mary M. Donelson

D. Rolla Pheasant

Winfield Garner

John C. Horton

Emma Crum, Salter

Grace L. Shultz

Otto O. Stone

Frank Wright

John C. Householder

Gilbert Daughenbaugh

Wilmer A. Brumbaugh

Carrie A. Smith

Flora M. Cramer

Edna Boyer

Mary Davis

Oscar Johnson

Grace Hunter, McAlevys Fort

Samuel M. Schell, Aitch

Gertrude Roland

Oscar Stone, Salter

Geo. E. Corcelius, Hesston

Joseph Hess, Orbisonia

Effie Dell

Carrie Chilcote

L. E. Boyer, Marklesburg

John H. Keith

C. Pearle Crum

Doris R. Glasgow

Wilbur D. Swope

You can learn more about other students and instructors of the Marklesburg School by clicking on the link.

This special pillow is a lasting legacy of not only a special group of young men and women, but of an unique education program that operated within the Woodcock Valley.

Two years ago, my son and I were fortunate enough to attend a public auction in Marklesburg, where they sold a box of teacher's manuals and student books from the Marklesburg Normal School. Being a former teacher, book lover, and history buff, I couldn't pass up the books. Many of the books have local names inside. I will write about them in a future blog post.

Are you wondering about now how many jobs I've had? LOL I have finally found my forever job - accounting is for me!!!!

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1 Comment

My Grand Father is #41 on this pillowcase list - Samuel M. Schell. He was a teacher in a one room school house for a short time. It is so touching to see this - thank you. I was a teacher for 35! Marian